Today's radio control (R/C) hobbyist has a large selection of reasonably priced R/C units to choose from in a rapidly growing industry. Commercial and military applications are also becoming more prevalent as R/C technologies improve performance, reduce latency, and improve reliability.
Modern digital radios allow for many users to be operating their units at the same time in close proximity to each other. This may be especially important in events where the desire is to have a large number of R/C units (up to hundreds of users) running simultaneously without interference.
Typically, a user may own multiple R/C units and have one or more radio frequency (RF) transmit controllers to operate the multiple R/C units. Typically, a transmit controller may be used by only one user and not shared. However, a single unit may be commonly shared among multiple users, such as members of the same household, each with their own transmit controller.
An R/C unit may be a remote control model vehicle. Each R/C unit may have an RF receiver installed during the manufacturing of the unit. The receiver may be associated with an RF transmit controller that may control the unit, and the RF transmit controller may be similarly associated with the receiver. These associations may be referred to as “bindings.” The process of creating a binding may be referred to as “binding.” A transmit controller with a binding to a receiver may be referred to as “bound” to the receiver, and a receiver with a binding to a transmit controller may be referred to as “bound” to the transmit controller.
To create a binding, a user may power up the transmit controller while pressing a set switch on the transmit controller, then power up the unit's receiver while pressing a link switch on the receiver. Within several seconds, the transmit controller and the receiver may “bind” by exchanging unique electronic signatures, or keys. Each may save a unique electronic signature of the other, so that each may recognize the other in the future. Despite their names, both the transmit controller and the receiver may be capable of both transmitting and receiving radio communications. Thus, the transmit controller and the receiver may each be called a “transceiver,” but to distinguish between the two the terms “transmit controller” and “receiver” will be used herein.
When a previously bound receiver and transmit controller are to be used, each may need to discover the existence of the other, discover the existence of a binding to the other, and configure to communicate with the other. This process may be referred to as “linking” Linking may occur, for example, when the receiver and transmit controller are powered up. The electronic signatures saved when the receiver and transmit controller were bound may be used for the receiver and transmit controller to recognize each other. Linking may establish a communication channel between the receiver and the transmit controller. This communication channel may be referred to as a “link.” A link may be for bidirectional communication.
Binding and linking may ensure a user's transmit controller controls only the user's unit, and not nearby units belonging to other users. A unit may react to commands from a transmit controller it is bound to, and may ignore commands from a transmit controller it is not bound to. Thus, multiple users may control multiple units in close proximity without interference.
Repeating the bind process may be time-consuming and inconvenient for users who switch between controlling multiple units with one transmit controller. For many units, the link switch for the unit's receiver may be located in a waterproof enclosure within the body of the unit. To access the link switch, a user may have to remove the body of the unit to gain access to the enclosure and open the enclosure using tools.
To reduce the need to repeat the bind process, some transmit controllers may be simultaneously bound to multiple units. Therefore, a user may link one of these transmit controllers with one of the multiple units without repeating the bind process.
The operation of a unit may be configured by setting various parameters. Some parameters may be set as a matter of preference, such as parameters for steering, braking, and throttle. Parameters may be set using a transmit controller.
While parameters such as steering, braking, and throttle may be set as a matter of preference, some units may have mandatory parameters which must be correctly set to properly control the unit. An example is the direction of rotation of steering servos. Some of a user's units may have steering servos right-side up, while other units may have steering servos upside down. Depending on the unit, the direction of rotation of the servos in response to control input may need to be reversed. This process is known is servo reversing or channel reversing.
If the direction of rotation of a unit's servos is not correctly set, the unit may turn in one direction when the user intends for the unit to turn in the opposite direction. As a result, the unit may crash, resulting in damage to the unit, damage to other property, and injuries to persons. This may be especially a concern with model ground vehicles that can travel at speeds of 40 to 60 miles per hour. This may also be especially a concern with model planes, which can be particularly likely to crash from a turn in the wrong direction.
A collection of parameter settings for a unit may be referred to as a “profile.” A transmit controller may save multiple profiles, and a user may select one of the profiles for the transmit controller to load. A user who has multiple units may typically have one or more profiles specifically for each unit. When changing to a different unit, a user may select a profile for the unit rather than setting each parameter. However, if the user does not remember to change profiles when the user changes units, the transmit controller may use incorrect parameters to control the unit. If mandatory parameters such as the direction of rotation of steering servos are incorrectly set, the unit may crash.
It would be desirable if a transmit controller could automatically load a profile specific to the unit it is linked to. A user would then not need to remember to manually select a profile or set the parameters for the unit. This would be more convenient for the user and could prevent crashes caused by incorrect parameter settings.
Additionally, two or more persons, such as members of the same household, may share a unit. Each person may have a transmit controller and may wish to control the shared unit at different times. It would be desirable if a unit could be bound to multiple transmit controllers, so that the unit could automatically link to an available one of the transmit controllers without the need to repeat the bind process.
Additionally, a situation may arise where a transmit controller determines there are multiple receivers available to link to or a receiver determines there are multiple transmit controllers available to link to. In such a situation, it would be desirable if each transmit controller automatically linked to a single receiver and each receiver automatically linked to a single transmit controller. This can prevent undesirable outcomes such as a transmit controller that controls multiple units or a unit that responds to commands from multiple transmit controllers.
Thus, a need exists for a transmit controller which may automatically select a profile for each unit it links to. A need further exists for a receiver which may be bound to multiple transmit controllers. A need further exists for a transmit controller which may automatically link to only a single receiver of multiple available receivers and a receiver which may automatically link to only a single transmit controller of multiple available transmit controllers.